FAILURE OF THE AGREED FRAMEWORK: AN INSTITUTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON THE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS, 1994-2002

by LEE, ERIC YONG-SUN

In 1994, the US and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework, a document aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Yet North Korea pulled out of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in January 2003, signaling the end of the Agreed Framework. This thesis explains the Agreed Framework’s operation between 1994 and 2002. While various branches of international relations theory provide insights into the Agreed Framework’s failure, an institutionalist perspective provides the most comprehensive explanation. Specifically, the payoff structures of the US and the DPRK show why the agreement failed to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.